The saying “slow and steady wins the race”, at least in the context of 130+ miles per hour, held true today as Audi swept the 1-2-3 spots at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the legendary motorsport event. Last year’s winner, Peugeot, came into this year’s race with the fastest cars and held the top starting positions. 24 hours later, all 4 of Peugeot’s entries retired, cited mechanical issues.

All eyes, from car enthusiasts and art aficionado, however, were on car #79 in the GT2 category, the BMW M3 Art Car by artist Jeff Koons. Powered by a 4.0-liter V8 engine with an output of 500 horsepower, the #79 BMW M3 GT2 was the 17th entry to the successful Art Car project by BMW. Piloted by drivers Andy Priaulx (GB), Dirk Muller (DE) and Dirk Werner (DE), #79 and its partner car #78, were to marked the comeback of BMW Motorsport in Le Mans after a 11-year absence. Unfortunately, it was not to be for car #79. Early on in the race, the car made several unscheduled pit stops. Then, around the Indianapolis Curve, the car ran out of fuel for reason unknown thus far. A huge disappointment for those involved in the project, especially Jeff Koons, who immersed himself into its creation since the inception.